macOS Mojave has several features that tighten security, including an improved Gatekeeper feature that enforces code signing and verifies downloaded apps before allowing them to run. Today, Apple issued a reminder to developers to get their Mac software notarized so customers have increased confidence that it’s not known malware.

Improving user security

According to a post over at Apple’s Dev Center portal for registered developers:

macOS Mojave is here. Give Mac users even more confidence in your software distributed outside the Mac App Store by submitting it to Apple to be notarized. When users on macOS Mojave first open a notarized app, installer package or disk image, they’ll see a more streamlined Gatekeeper dialog and have confidence that it is not known malware.

As Apple states, launching a notarized app for the first time puts up a more personalized Gatekeeper dialog than before with a bit less scary message (you can see a user-friendlier prompt top of post).